Between the Hours
by Alys Lynn
Summary: When the world seems to be burning down around you, a friend can be the light at the end of a very dark tunnel. A fact Link discovers during his grueling quest in Termina. Yet when that friend, who he has come to deeply rely on, keeps forgetting him every 3 days, the loneliness begins to destroy him. He must find a way to bring the friend with him through time before it's too late.


_**(See the end of the work for notes.)**_

_**...**_

**Part 1**

Tatl was glaring at me.

Hovering right in front of my face she was a furious ball of light, shaking with agitation and wings standing straight up while she balanced on the breeze coming from the inner workings of the clock tower. As she had just made very clear, and was continuing to do so by her rigid posture and angry expression, she was not having even a single ounce of my shit.

Pointedly, and to physically reiterate my own point that I had tried to make before her tirade, _I need a minute_, I sunk down to the ground to lean my back against the clock tower and pushed her tiny body aside when she all but shrieked and followed me down.

"I'm sorry," she spat, not in the least bit sorry at all. "But did you _forget_ about our 3-day timeframe? Can you not hear this giant clock ticking away your very precious and important seconds? Get _up_, you lazy boy!"

This time, I glared, but it was mostly just tired and exasperated. "First of all, not lazy. Second of all, not really a boy. Third of all... can I just have a _moment_ to appreciate I'm human again and not trapped as a Deku? Goddesses sake... I have the ocarina now, Tatl, I can reset the days anytime I need to. And considering everything I just went through, that _you_ helped to cause, I think you owe me some quiet while I try to process what the hell is going on."

Tatl seemed utterly unconvinced and unimpressed with my logic. And unsympathetic to my feelings, as it turned out. She launched into a rant about how Tael and I were both just the same and that nothing would ever get done if it weren't for her being around, so thank the Gods she was. I tuned her out right around when she started insisting "we shouldn't waste time even with the power to reset it because who knows what the ramifications could be of overusing that ability" (which… yes, that was a valid point but I was feeling petty so I refused to give her the satisfaction of being right), and instead turned my eyes towards the bustling district of South Clock Town. They seemed a happy bunch, these townsfolk, even with the threat of the oversized and horrifying moon looming overhead. The carpenters were busy building and hauling supplies and overall just shouting at one another, folks were rushing to and fro running errands with arms laden with bags, people pushed through the crowds with terse words and impatient hands as they headed to work, vendors were frantically trying to set up their shops, children splashed into the little pools to either side of me to the chagrin of their mothers and fathers... It was all in motion. Yet I remembered how it emptied on the third day, the eerie stillness that blanketed the city save for the few who hoped in vain that the moon would stay firmly in the sky...

It made me feel a little sick, their desperate hope, for I knew that if I failed... those faces would be the ones to die first.

Pushing that particular thought firmly from my mind, ears remaining closed to Tatl's impressively still ongoing rant, I suddenly noticed motion coming from the stairs across the way. I watched curiously as a blue-haired boy, likely not much older than I (or, at least, as old as I presented), hustled down those stairs to the mailbox with a bright yellow Keaton mask on. _Cute_, I thought with a smile. _He must be mailing something for an adult._ It tasted a little like home, seeing that mask, as Hyrule was littered with children who wore it as well, adored it and paraded about in it all hours of the day and night. It was warming to see that same Keaton infatuation all the way out here in Termina. The boy hesitated a moment by the mailbox, glanced over his shoulder towards East Clock Town, but then gave himself a little shake and shoved the letter roughly through the slot. I hummed softly under my breath. Perhaps the boy wasn't so pleased with whatever the letter contained? Well, he carried out his chore nonetheless, so hopefully whoever he was helping out would be pleased with him. I watched him run back up the stairs and disappear down the alleyway without a backwards glance.

Tatl took that moment to zoom into my line of vision, buzzing like a hornet.

"Are you even listening?"

"Not at all." I pushed her away again and stood up, dusting off my tunic and ignoring her as she went off again. "The Great Fairy said to swing by when I was human again, right?" My interruption cut Tatl off but then her expression turned a little smug, as though whatever she'd been saying had worked. Upon her verification that, yes, we were meant to go there first, I nodded and headed off. "Well, let's go then. Maybe she has some suggestions on how to get this all done in the quickest way possible." I frowned softly, considering. "Because even with the power to reset the clock... accomplishing _anything_ of merit within 3 days will be next to impossible, let alone stopping the end of the world."

Tatl huffed. "That is what I have been trying to tell you!"

...

"Do it! I want to see!"

I glared a little at my fairy companion and her impatience. "I will, Tatl, give me a second!"

Shaking my head, I walked over to the edge of the hill where I could see Jim trying in vain the pop that monstrous Carnival balloon. How was it that it had Majora's Mask on it, anyway? Was the Skull Kid's reach so long and persuasive that he influenced _everything_, even a detail as trivial as the balloon makers? I didn't understand, but then again, there was much I didn't understand about what was going on. Including all these new powers over time that the Great Fairy had told us about. Somewhat hesitantly, I brought the ocarina to my lips as Tatl flew in close and perched on my shoulder. That had been an important note the Great Fairy had made - anything meant to travel through time with me and remain aware of this journey must be touching me for the magic to envelop us both. I took a breath, then played the Song of Time backwards, as instructed. As the last note of the eerie song rang out, the world around me suddenly went fuzzy and dark. Nausea and fatigue gripped me and I swayed on my feet, my head spinning a little as the distant sound of a ticking clock grew slower and slower. I put my head in my hands, ocarina still held tight, certain I was about to trip over my own feet where I fought to remain standing, when suddenly everything righted itself. North Clock Town swam back into focus, the sensation of dizzying nausea and fatigue lifted, and I slowly raised my clearing head.

It all... looked the same.

Jim was still blowing his spitballs, Tingle continued to float around messing with his maps (how in the name of Farore that balloon held him up was a mystery to all), the guard remained stoically standing at the exit for the mountains, surveying the area and keeping a close eye on me... It was all exactly the same. Frowning, I turned to Tatl and even she seemed a little put out there was no real discernible difference in the change of time's flow, her small hands on her hips as she glared at the world in general. And yet... the more I studied the goings-on around me, the more I noticed it. It was hardly more than a flutter of pressure at the back of my head, a barely there touch brushing my mind, but everything _was_ slower. I could _feel_ it, but only the way one might feel a gust of wind from the wings of a bug. I let out a little laugh of awe and surprise, earning Tatl's attention.

"This isn't funny!" She was irate. "If it didn't work then how in the world are we supposed to do this? You, you did something wrong! Go back in there and ask the Great Fairy for another lesson."

I rolled my eyes. "You know, your faith in me is truly staggering. This isn't my first rodeo traveling through time to save the world, you know. I have a bit of a history doing something like this, I'm not green."

Unimpressed, Tatl just pointed back to the cave entrance as though nothing I said meant a thing. That annoyed me, and I swatted at her like the nuisance she was before turning on my heel to march away, ignoring her shout of indignation. I didn't have time for her. If she didn't think I had at least _some_ abilities to make this happen, I had no interest dealing with her. She was only sticking with me because she had nowhere else to go, and I was only allowing it because she knew this land and I didn't. Our companionship went no further than that, and especially if she couldn't even bring herself to _try _to believe in me. I could feel that it worked, and that was all that mattered... Time was slower. I might as well head to the Swamp and see what I could find out and take care of before I ran out days.

Tatl, of course, was by my side before I even made it to the guard to negotiate my way out.

...

It was… embarrassing how much my hands were shaking around the Deku mask I clutched.

I really, _really_ didn't want to put it back on. I really didn't want to become that Deku child again… I had _just _gotten my humanity back! Why couldn't I just go about my quest as a human? Why couldn't I just talk to the guards at the front of the Deku palace about what I was trying to do and have them grant me access? I was great with Royal Families! Just ask King Rhoam, he thought I was an actual gift from the Goddesses and could hardly stand the idea that I left Hyrule.

I shouldn't have left Hyrule.

Swallowing hard, I turned the mask over a few times in my hands, which seemed to test about all the patience Tatl had left. She huffed loudly and zipped in front of me.

"What is the problem, here? Just put it on, we don't have time for this. You have to talk to the Deku King to see what information he has for you about the temple and what has gone wrong in the Swamp." A pause. "And see about that stupid monkey," she added grudgingly.

I glared at her, but the ridiculous fear I felt took all the heat out of it. "This is going to be a really long journey. If you don't stop talking about time, I'm going to warp back to day 1 and leave you stranded here."

"Then put the mask on! What are you waiting for?"

Silence stretched. Tatl flew in closer, studied me for a moment, and the agitation in her diminished a little bit. She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You'll change back into you, if that's what's stopping you. You won't be trapped again, the creepy mask man made sure of that. That… healing song or whatever will protect you from that."

My glare hardened a bit, heat flooding my cheeks. I hated being so transparent, and _especially_ to Tatl, but… I knew she was right. Not only about the song of healing but also that I needed to just… get this over with. I had no doubt in my mind, despite how much I hated it, that I would be required to shift forms a lot to handle the Woodland temple – it was a temple for Dekus, after all – and so the sooner I just… got over my fear, the better. I closed my eyes and tightened my grip on the mask, my mind unhelpfully replaying the horror and terror I had felt when I realized the Skull Kid had forced me into this body. It had been so awful… I hadn't felt like myself at all, I couldn't even _see _myself. All there was to stare back at me were these sad, glowing orange hollows in my skull that lacked all familiarity. I had been able to feel the spirit of the Deku worming its way through my veins and pressing on my mind, a foreign invader that slithered through me and made my skin crawl. Was that spirit still in the mask? Would I still feel him? Would he still influence my body as though I was nothing more than a puppet to manipulate? It made me feel sick that I had to do this again...

"Link…" Tatl's sudden voice was soft, imploring. And I couldn't _stand_ that.

_Just do it! _I thought fiercely, fueled suddenly by agitation from Tatl's pity._ You hold the Triforce of Courage for Din's sake! _Opening my eyes and glaring, I took a deep breath and brought the mask up towards my face before I could talk myself back out of it. I could feel the magic that lived within it crawl up my arms and travel down my torso and legs, leaving a tingling sensation all over my body that was strangely, surprisingly, pleasant. As though by a magnet, the mask jumped onto my face and my body began to change.

It was _excruciating_.

I fell to my knees in the dirt, clutching the edges of the mask to tear it from my head, yet it held fast, bound to me by the terrible magic. I tried to fight the howl of agony that threatened to burst through my lips, but I just couldn't, and my scream echoed throughout the entirety of the swamp, no doubt reaching all the way back to the Tourist Information building. I felt every single one of my bones snap in half and fuse together again to make me into something new, to make me into the monstrous little Deku I hated. Tears were pouring down my cheeks as I gasped out choked screams and trembled desperately. My body jerked in unnatural directions as though trying to escape the fierce pain. I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood in a futile attempt to silence myself.

Could this kill me? The fear of that was nearly crippling.

And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The pain vanished as though it had never been there, and only the ghost of its memory remained. I had to stay where I was, however, crouched in the dirt with my Deku hands still gripping my Deku head, as I fought the urge to vomit. My body continued to tremble and my eyes continued to water, and I couldn't have moved even if my life depended on it.

Yeah… I should have stayed the hell in Hyrule…

When I felt I was stable, who knew how long after, I staggered to my feet. Tatl was silent for once and I was grateful. I wanted neither her pity nor her disdain. I supposed the piercing scream of anguish out of my otherwise unemotional mouth was enough for her to keep quiet, to shut up about how much time we didn't have to waste, to make her grasp the fact that despite us going through this "together", it was really all on me. I was the one to have to endure this, I was the one to whom all the challenges and pressures and requirements fell. I had to shoulder_ everything _in order to fix the fuck up that was Termina, including, as it turned out, indescribable pain in order to become a creature I was never meant to be.

What else was new?

I heaved a steadying breath and furiously wiped at my eyes, got my shit together, and marched myself through the entrance to the Deku Palace.

...

Kaepora Gaebora? Was that really Kaepora Gaebora perched on that monument across the way there, looking at me expectantly? Surely not… That wouldn't make any sense. But then again… I literally only knew one reincarnated sage in the form of a huge owl. Eager, I dove into the flower so I could fly over there and see him, find out what in the name of the Goddesses he was doing here. The moment I landed, I hurried over to him and let him drape his giant wings around me in the only sort of embrace an owl could do.

Of course he knew who I was, even underneath my Deku disguise.

Emotion briefly welled up inside of me. He smelled like home and sounded even closer to it as he began to talk to me about the powerful deities I must save, what the owl statues I'd been seeing around meant and how to activate them, and a song I must learn to make use of them. He said he knew I would be making this journey, that I had a destiny here, much like in Hyrule, to be the one to save the land and the people who lived here. And, of course, to rescue the Skull Kid before it was too late and bring him back home where he belonged.

No pressure. Just an average day for the Hero of Time.

"Learn the song, young Link, and this world will open to you. I have placed the statues in the key locations you will need, so that I may aid you in your journey. You have grown much since your trials in Hyrule, you will not need my help the way you once did. But this, at least, I can do for you. The act of playing this song will bind us as eternal friends. Play it, and let my wings carry you."

The sight of him so far from our home and so soon after such a painful and shattering transformation, while I still felt vulnerable and small, awoke something shameful and sudden in me. A part of me, the child in me, the one who felt far too keenly the fear and sorrow and overwhelming pressure of what was always expected of me, who felt the crushing burden of this task and all the tasks before it, wanted to beg Kaepora Gaebora to simply fly me home. Abandon Termina to its fate, abandon the people, the Skull Kid, even Epona… All so that I could return to Hyrule and continue to live my life in peace, responsible for no one and nothing except for myself. I had already done my part to save the world! Why must I do so again, so soon after the last time, and for a land that was not my own?

Kaepora Gaebora stared at me, silently, his wise eyes reading all the things I dared not speak, because even I knew that was not possible. I was the Chosen One, I was Farore's Knight… My fate had been sealed long before I was even born. And to run… well, that wasn't my nature anyway, no matter how afraid or ill prepared I was. I could no sooner turn my back on the people of Termina than I could turn my back on Hyrule. They needed me, and no matter what it took, no matter the sacrifices I would have to make, I would not let them down. There was simply nothing else.

I sighed, swallowed back my emotions because I had no other choice, and learned the Song of Soaring. I sensed his magic surround me, embrace me like the comforting arms of an old friend and hold tight, and felt suddenly buoyed by his presence. At the very least, I could carry the old sage with me, even if I felt I had nothing and no one else.

Kaepora Gaebora left, and I continued on my way.

...

As far as temples went, Woodfall wasn't so bad, and especially once I learned that the only agonizing and unbearable transformation that occurred with the Deku mask was that first one. Each of the following times I had to switch back and forth between forms, while it was painful and uncomfortable, I could stomach it without screaming or wanting to die. I grunted a few times, but all in all, it was nothing compared to that very first time, and I could live with this if it meant never going through that ever again. Not to mention, it was almost instantaneous, which I deeply appreciated after that initial long and drawn out transformation.

I only got lost a few times, and never once fell into that poisoned water, which I was particularly proud of. Tatl proved to be a very helpful asset, with a keen sense of direction and an uncanny ability to sense other fairies where they were hidden or imprisoned. I had an army of them collected by the time I found the room where the boss was lying in wait, all softly promising they would help me in whatever way they could, their magic only a fraction of what it could be in such a shattered state.

Odolwa was… a challenge, at first. That sword was _massive, _and I felt like nothing more than an annoying, persistent bug as I swatted at his legs with my sword and shot arrows at him from afar. He seemed entirely unbothered, deflecting and shoving me back with his shield or brandishing his far superior blade at me and forcing me to scurry away. Surely nothing I could do would have any effect whatsoever on such a huge warrior! But as it turned out, Odolwa was prone to theatrics while summoning his carnivorous Moths and Insect Minions, leaving him wide open to attacks from the bomb flowers, arrows, and my sword. It didn't take long after that, and soon, Odolwa could fight no more and his body burned away in the blue flames that always consumed evil entities.

Panting and sweating, I sunk to the floor against the wall and just… took a minute. I was bloodied and bruised, spent in a way I hadn't been in a while. That battle… I was practically sprinting the entire time, always on my guard, always just barely managing to dodge Odolwa and that blasted blade of his. The spin attacks were the worst… I had come so close to being disemboweled that fear was still sitting heavy in my stomach. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, allowing the adrenaline to die down so I would actually be able to feel the extent of my injuries, such they were. I wasn't sure how bad they might be, but as time slowly passed, the bleeding stopped on its own and all I was left with were deep aches and an even deeper exhaustion. My eyes fluttered open and I took a long, steadying breath, meeting Tatl's silent stare before glancing down at my clothes.

I looked like shit.

My green tunic was stained with blood and singed in various places from being too close to the bomb's explosions or the rings of fire Odolwa conjured. There were holes ripped into it from the few Moths and their ghastly teeth that I hadn't been able to outrun, and full slashes from where Odolwa caught me. My arms and legs were riddled with cuts, bite marks, and burns, with a couple rough gashes along my right shin and down my sword arm. Worried about infection, I quickly dug out a red potion I had bought from that hag in the swamp and chugged it. The taste was abhorrent, as most red potions were, but I felt its effects immediately as warmth pooled in my belly and the worst of my injuries began to slowly knit themselves together. It was unsettling, the rhythmic tug and pull of my flesh, but I was so used to it that I hardly gave it another thought. Instead, I steeled myself for whatever might come next and forced my torn and beaten body up from the floor.

In the middle of the room was the mask of Odolwa that was left behind, the dark magic that had fueled the warrior sealed inside. Much like with the Deku mask, I assumed. I limped over to it and carefully picked it up, unsure what I was meant to do with it, when I was suddenly bathed in a familiar blue glow and warped away.

When I opened my eyes again, I couldn't help but look around in awe. Where the hell was I…? It was so white here, so… pure. So full of nothingness. Was this like their Sacred Realm, the place between worlds where the spirts and deities lived? And… and what was that standing just beyond the veil and swirling smoke? That hulking, giant figure? I turned to Tatl, to ask if she had any idea what was going on, when the figure began this sorrowful, gut-wrenching cry. It echoed all around us and closed about my body like a desperate, clutching embrace. I felt it resonate deep within me, dragging up my own sorrows and heartache that were nearly crippling in their intensity. Tears sprang to my eyes and my throat closed, but Tatl was one step ahead.

"Listen… They're saying something… It's… The crying, it's a melody…" Her voice was thick, the grief from the creature infecting her as well. "Can you hear it? Link. Get your ocarina!"

My hands were shaking but I quickly did as instructed, pulling the instrument out and putting it to my lips. It was hard to focus on the notes the creature was wailing out, their sadness almost too much for me to bear. Again, Tatl seemed to have a better hold of herself and this situation than I did, and she flew in close to my ear and began to softly sing. Between her gentle, lilting voice, and the cries of the creature, the melody soon came to me and I was able to replicate it. It was not my best playing, not by far, but then the creature joined in with me and together we finished the melody and were bound together by the powerful magic it created.

_Oath to Order… _The voice echoed in my head, deep and ethereal, sounding both right in front of me and worlds away. I found myself nodding, murmuring softly under my breath _yes, yes, Oath to Order, I understand… _

Silence then fell over us all for what felt like eons. It stretched out, endless, as the feelings of sorrow and desperation lifted. I blinked slowly as though coming out of a daze, and suddenly the creature was speaking. Their voice was soft, melodic in a way that was sad but beautiful, similar to their singing cries but without the same powerful persuasion. I couldn't understand them, their words no longer drifting through my mind, but Tatl moved forward.

There was a beat of quiet. "Call us…" she translated softly. "That's what they are saying…"

Call us? What did that mean? But before I could step forward and ask, before even Tatl could demand more answers, a blinding light flashed and the realm around us was gone. I felt swept away, floating through time and space, and then reality came rushing back in. The ground was again firmly below my feet, and after a few moments of painful, frantic blinking, I could see the darkened room we'd been transplanted to. It looked… familiar, to a point, so we must have been brought back to somewhere around the Woodland temple, if not in a room of the temple itself. I promptly turned towards Tatl, needing answers I wasn't even sure she had.

"Tatl, who was that? Was that the deity I saved? What did they mean by 'call us'?"

She had floated away a little bit and was softly murmuring to herself, seeming to ignore me completely. I grew impatient almost immediately, but I figured she needed a moment or two to sort of… puzzle all of this out, so at the very least I could give her that. Even if I was buzzing with anticipation.

"I got it," she said suddenly, turning in the air to look at me. "'The Four who are there'… Tael was talking about the Guardians, the deities that watch over Termina from the four cardinal directions. Gods, _of course _he was! I don't know why that didn't occur to me before… That was one of them, Link. The Guardians are the spirits you are freeing from the temples when you cleanse them. The Skull Kid, with the help of that wretched mask, has brought these dark forces to life in those temples to imprison the Guardians so they can't interfere! Imagine the kind of power he must have…" The fairy sort of shuddered all over, then flew in closer. "You have to save the other three, Link! That's the key to all of this. You must cleanse the temples and free the Guardians before the Skull Kid destroys this land and everyone in it. Do you understand? Free them, confront the Skull Kid, and call them. Call them with the song!"

…

I needed a minute.

So… Guardians… The deities of Termina. That was who was speaking to us from behind that veil. Then perhaps that mysterious place _was_ something like the Sacred Realm, an in-between world where the Guardians resided when they were not needed by the realm they protected, much like the Sages. But how in the world did the Skull Kid manage to trap them? Tatl was right… Majora's Mask must be exponentially powerful to be able to pull off a feat like that, which of course made this quest far more dangerous than it already was. I had no doubt in my mind that Majora would be aware of my meddling the more I pressed on, would know that I was undoing all the extensive and difficult work the Skull Kid had done on the mask's behalf. I would have to be careful…

I took a deep breath, then looked at my fairy companion, determination brimming beneath my skin. "I understand. Free the remaining Guardians from the dark forces that have them imprisoned, then get up to the Skull Kid and play the Oath to Order and summon them. But… then what?"

A pause. "I… guess we'll find out when the time comes," she said, her voice a little calculating as she studied me.

I nodded once, ignoring a sudden flare of exhaustion and a full body throb that punched its way through me. I guess in that spiritual and ethereal realm, human ailments were nonexistent. It had been as though there had never been a bloody battle or a temple riddled with evils that I had to claw my way through. Apart from that overwhelming sorrow, I had honestly felt very little at all save a gentle sort of peace and awe. But now that I was back, I could feel it beginning to weigh my whole body down, growing more intense by the second, and I knew I would need to rest soon. Except that it was already nearing sunset on the third day, wasn't it? And I would have to reset time. That made me very uneasy… Would everything I did at this temple be reset? Would I have to come back and free the Guardian again? If that were true, then how in the name of Din was I supposed to release all four within my limited time frame?

My head gave a particularly nasty throb, and I sighed. "All right, Tatl. Let's… go see this other Great Fairy, return her to her original state and find out what she has to say. We don't have a lot of time left and I have a couple questions for her." I took a step towards the hallway that was in front of us, hoping it might be some kind of exit, when Tatl zoomed in front of me.

"Wait," she said, and then continued to watch me for a long moment. I frowned at her, because wasn't she the one who always insisted we had no time to waste? But then she carried on, her voice sort of soft. "You… You were pretty… great in there, you know. You handled yourself well, and… you didn't even look afraid. And you don't really seem at all… phased by what you have to do, or who you are doing it for. I thought I was going to have to convince you or try to prove the Guardians really are our deities. But you just… accepted it, without a blink." Now she was frowning. "You really have done this kind of thing before, haven't you? What _are _you?" She hesitated then, turned away, suddenly shy. "Listen… All that stuff I did to you, everything I helped the Skull Kid do to you… Being so… unkind… I… I apologize. I'm sorry…"

Well… that was surprising. And clearly quite hard for her to do, judging by the fact that she still couldn't even look at me. Too exhausted and beaten down to even bother playing it up or drawing out her discomfort for the fun of it (which I would totally do if the circumstances were at all different), I just smiled a little. "…Honestly, Tatl, it's –"

"Hey! Is someone there? I can hear your voices! I order you to let me out this instant! I am the Deku Princess, I have been captured and am being held here!"

We both turned around in surprise to see what looked like a small hut at the back of the room, with an open archway that was covered in thick, thorny vines. Standing behind the vines was a small Deku Scrub, now waving frantically at us. Tatl and I both looked at one another, and it was perfectly clear that we had _both_ forgotten all about the Deku Princess in the face of everything else going on.

Well. Better escort her back first, and _then _go see the Great Fairy.

...

It felt like I'd been run over by a wagon… While the Great Fairy of the Swamp had been able to heal the worst of my physical wounds on my body (and fix up my tunic) with her powerful magic, there wasn't anything she could do about my bone deep exhaustion or how I just… ached all over. I was out of practice, apparently… Taking even a small amount of time off from cleansing temples and slaying dark entities had clearly made me a little soft. I had hoped that when I reset time, I would feel perfectly fine, the way I'd felt at the start of the three day cycle, but the Great Fairy had very solemnly told me that my body would heal what remained at its own pace, as the magic that flowed through me to allow me to manipulate time meant I was immune to being reset. Though I supposed that was a good thing, in the end. It was that selfsame magic that would also keep Odolwa, and all the other minions of Majora that guarded the temples, sealed away in their masks so that the Guardians could be free. And remain free. I could sacrifice my own well-being if it meant making that kind of progress. The temples would become infested again, and the work I had to do just to make it _into _the temples would reset, but each Guardian that I released would be there now and could heal that darkness in my stead. I had a bigger journey to complete, after all. But I was just relieved to know I didn't have to somehow save all four Guardians in the span of three measly days. At least now, knowing what I knew, I could actually start to make a _plan_.

Maybe I could do this after all…

But for now, I was lying flat on my back on a bench just inside the city walls, through that alley way that I had seen that young boy run off to what felt like ages ago. When I warped back to Clock Town, I had wanted a place I could just… be… for a little while. I still had time before I had to reset the clock, and it was still ticking by at the slower pace I had set for it before I journeyed to the Swamp. I didn't know why, but I had felt… compelled to come here, it had just seemed like the right thing to do, the logical next step. And now, as I lied alone with Tatl silent nearby, I was grateful for my instincts. It was quiet here, empty, and the sound of the little stream bubbling along was soothing. It was nothing like the chaos that I had been surrounded by the last few days, which was exactly what I was after. Peace. The sign as I came in read "Laundry Pool", though something told me that was an old idea, that this area was used for nothing of the sort anymore. It looked too… uninhabited for that. Save for that one solitary door that was tucked away in the corner between the city wall and the side of that tall building, there didn't seem to be any signs of life around here. The pathway looked relatively unused and even that door was nearly overgrown with vines that were snaking up the adjacent wall. I wasn't sure what that kid had been doing here, but it was obvious he was not around here anymore.

I closed my eyes and let out a soft sigh, shifting on the bench a little and wincing at the way my body flared with pain in protest. Goddesses, if I still felt this shitty after resetting the clock, there was no way I could just plow right on to the mountains to try and tackle Snowhead. It might be that I would have to… take some time between temples and let both my body _and _my mind heal. I needed to be at my best, at my sharpest, and that was absolutely not where I was right now. I knew Tatl would hate it, but it wasn't up to her. She would think I was shirking my responsibilities, that I was being lazy, but of course she would be wrong. I knew my job now, I knew what I was up against and I knew the stakes. I had to strive to be as close to 100% as I could be in order to carry this all out and _succeed_, so she was going to have to suck it up and make allowances. After all, I was the only Hero of Time this town was going to get, and if I couldn't do this, no one could. Tatl had to rely in me. There were no other options.

That thought should frighten me, should be so heavy it made me feel sick, but… I was just too tired to feel much of anything.

In an hour, I would reset the clock.

One Guardian down, three to go…

_**...**_

**_A/N: _**_Hey all! I know it's been a long time, so I hope everyone is doing well. I'm going to be honest with you, I have no idea what I am going to do with this story. I have so many ideas in my head for it, and I really want to write it, but this is the first time I have written anything like this in years. I lost my love for writing over the last year and half or so and it's taken it a long time to come back to me, so I can't say for sure if this motivation will stick. But what better pairing to write than Kafei and Link? This story is NOT related to Forbidden Love, but these boys will always be an OTP and I will never tire of writing them. I also wanted to let you know that I won't be posting any more of it here on fanfiction, but instead it'll go on my Ao3 page which I have put in my bio. So if you like the story and want to see where it goes, please go follow me! Any future works I write can be found there. Let me know what you think of this! I doubt all the uploads will be this long, but who knows? _

_Also, needless to say the rating will never be more than T since they are still kids, and the T is just for language and blood._

_Thanks for reading! Love to all ^.^_


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